more interesting to me is the potential split between the pro-Empire and anti-Empire Tea Partiers. we need more anti-Empire Republicans.
On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 9:10 AM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: > Is there any way to exploit the gap between the "social conservatives" > (anti-abortos, etc.) and the money libertarians within the > broadly-defined GOP movement? > > New York TIMES / March 12, 2010 > Tea Party Avoids Divisive Social Issues > By KATE ZERNIKE > > For decades, faith and family have been at the center of the > conservative movement. But as the Tea Party infuses conservatism with > new energy, its leaders deliberately avoid discussion of issues like > gay marriage or abortion. > > God, life and family get little if any mention in statements or > manifestos. The motto of the Tea Party Patriots, a large coalition of > groups, is “fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free > markets.” The Independence Caucus questionnaire, which many Tea Party > groups use to evaluate candidates, poses 80 questions, most on the > proper role of government, tax policy and the federal budgeting > process, and virtually none on social issues. > > The Contract From America, which is being created Wiki-style by > Internet contributors as a manifesto of what “the people” want > government to do, also mentions little in the way of social issues, > beyond a declaration that parents should be given choice in how to > educate their children. By contrast, the document it aims to improve > upon — the Contract With America, which Republicans used to market > their successful campaign to win a majority in Congress in 1994 — was > prefaced with the promise that the party would lead a Congress that > “respects the values and shares the faith of the American family.” > > Tea Party leaders argue that the country can ill afford the discussion > about social issues when it is passing on enormous debts to future > generations. But the focus is also strategic: leaders think they can > attract independent voters if they stay away from divisive issues. > > “We should be creating the biggest tent possible around the economic > conservative issue,” said Ryan Hecker, the organizer behind the > Contract From America. “I think social issues may matter to particular > individuals, but at the end of the day, the movement should be > agnostic about it. This is a movement that rose largely because of the > Republican Party failing to deliver on being representative of the > economic conservative ideology. To include social issues would be > beside the point.” > > As the Tea Party pushes to change the Republican Party, the purity > they demand of candidates may have more to do with economic > conservatism than social conservatism. Some Tea Party groups, for > instance, have declined to endorse J. D. Hayworth, who has claimed the > mantle of a fiscal conservative, in the Republican Senate primary in > Arizona. But these groups find his record in Congress no more fiscally > responsible than the man he seeks to oust, John McCain. > > The Tea Party defines economic conservatism more strictly than most > Republicans in Congress would — the Tea Party agrees about the need to > do away with earmarks, but the Contract, for example, also includes a > proposal to scrap the tax code and replace it with one no longer than > 4,543 words (a number chosen to match the length of the Constitution, > unamended.) It would limit the growth of federal spending to inflation > plus the percentage of population growth and require a two-thirds > majority for any tax increase. > > <clip> > > > New York TIMES / March 11, 2010 > Outraged by Glenn Beck’s Salvo, Christians Fire Back > By LAURIE GOODSTEIN > > Last week, the conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck called on > Christians to leave their churches if they hear preaching about social > or economic justice, saying they were code words for Communism and > Nazism. > > This week the remarks prompted outrage from several Christian > bloggers. The Rev. Jim Wallis, who leads the liberal Christian > antipoverty group Sojourners, in Washington, called on Christians to > leave Glenn Beck. > > “What he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith, and > Christians should no longer watch his show,” Mr. Wallis wrote on his > blog, God’s Politics. “His show should now be in the same category as > Howard Stern.” > > In attacking churches that espouse social justice, Mr. Beck is taking > on most mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, black and Hispanic > congregations in the country — not to mention plenty of evangelical > churches and even his own, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day > Saints. > > <clip> > > > > > -- > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own > way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
